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Brian McCann not Pleased to Have Second Consecutive Night Off

August 18th, 2012 at 8:03 PM By Cody Fields

It's not often that an Atlanta Braves player openly vents to the media about anything, but Brian McCann let everyone know that he wasn't happy with being out of the lineup again Saturday after having the night off on Friday, Dave O'Brien reports.

McCann is hitting a career worst .229 with 18 home runs and 57 RBIs. Nine of those homers and 21 RBI came during 18 games from July 5 through July 31, but he has since is 4-for-36 (.111) in 12 games with one RBI.

This marks the second time McCann has gotten two straight games off this month, the last being Aug. 8 at the Philadelphia Phillies and Aug. 10 at the New York Mets. He got a cortisone shot in his bothersome right shoulder after the Aug. 7 game, an injury that has bothered him for two months, Fredi Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez told the media that the issue is a shoulder subluxation, where the shoulder temporarily and partially dislocates, and that it only happens when he swings the bat. McCann says that isn't true.

“I don’t know who told you that,” McCann said. “I don’t have a subluxation. That’s false. I have a cyst that’s sitting on the joint and I’ve got a frayed labrum, a little bit of a fray in my labrum. But that [treatment including possible surgery] is something that we’ll have to decide when the season’s over…

“I got an MRI a while back. That’s what the tests showed. That’s what’s been causing the pain, there’s a cyst that’s sitting on the joint.”

O'Brien also reports that a Braves official says the cyst and labrum problem are the result of the subluxation.

“Hopefully by giving him some rest and monitoring it, we can manage it,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said.

To stir the pot even more, Gonzalez said he was favoring David Ross to start against Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Aaron Harang, against whom is his 4-for-9 with three homers. It just happens McCann is 12-for-23 with two home runs of his own against Harang. McCann was also upset that he wasn't called on to even pinch-hit in the Braves' 11-inning win Friday night.

“I want to play,” he said. “I can pinch-hit, I can play. I can do all the things that I normally need to do to play.”

McCann has obviously not had his best season. Entering Saturday, his .168 batting average with runners in scoring position was the fourth worst in the NL, he is second worst in the majors with a .104 average in close and late situations, and he is dead last in the bigs with a .157 average after the sixth inning.